A two-day junior coaches’ training for 20 basketball coaches has been concluded at the newly built Kenya Academy of Sports Basketball courts at Kasarani.
In an agreement with the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports, NBA Africa agreed to help with coaching development, player development and elite player development as well as help develop basketball facilities.
NBA Africa, through the Kenya office begun with the rehabilitation of the courts at Kasarani and then a two-day coaches training workshop conducted by Junior NBA coaches’ instructor, O’Karo Akamune.
“We have recruited coaches with the help of the Red Cross and our partners AFD. The coaches are key to this game and the industry of basketball evolving in Kenya. That is the foundation and that’s where we have to start,” said Michael Finley, the Kenya Country lead, NBA Africa.
He added that the selected young men and women will help the programme and hopefully many other programmes and recruit many other coaches in the country, noting this was just the beginning.
The NBA Africa director of basketball operations Kita Matungulu says the idea is to penetrate the deepest areas and provide access to the game. The Junior NBA ran a programme back in 2018 that was stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kita says most schools in Kenya have a basic basketball court but with limited productivity. The NBA now wants to work with the relevant stakeholders to build a solid foundation to produce a product that has its values centered in Kenya as Kenya remains the number one economy in the eastern part of Africa and one of the top economies in Africa.
“When we did basketball without borders over the years, we saw young talents from Kenya come and prosper. We believe with the sustained programme (of training coaches) and continuity of the activities and high-level coaching, the game can be pushed to a level where Kenya becomes a basketball force in Africa,” Kita elaborated.
NBA wants to have an impactful programme in scouting so that players prosper to the next level. Skills level programme is another target as Kenya has natural athletic players but with no skills. The follow up will be in competitions and activities related to the exposure of players.
“It is a process that goes step by step, but it starts with the foundation of scouting and coaches that are active,” explained Kita.
“What I have picked in training is some adjustments to what we are doing. So far, we have done some things in training but somehow not in the proper way. We have learnt communication to the kids that we train is key, and use of proper words when communicating to the kids in order to make that communication easy and clear to them,” said Fabrice Simon, one of the participants.
“First of all this is great, because this is growth, at least we are seeing they are bringing more courts, especially in this location along Thika road, I’m hoping we have more of such projects to come. But this is a great project and we appreciate it,” added another participant, Susan Nyambura.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
